Sunday, September 29, 2013

Today we chat with Yreka HS senior, Clayton Bunn. At yesterday's Stanford Invitational, Bunn led the Miners to a first place team finish in the Division IV race. He placed in 6th place with a time of 16:10 just ahead of teammate, Matt Jochim. When combining all the races in all divisions, Yreka ended up as the 7th fastest team overall which is quite impressive for a Division IV team. Bunn is no stranger to team championships as in 2011 as a sophomore, he was the 3rd man on the Yreka state championship team.1) How did you get your start in running? What other sports did you play?
I got started with running in 5th grade competing in track and field running the 1600 and 800. I ran cross country for the first time in 9th grade.

2) When did you first discover your talent for running?
I realized I had the talent for running in my freshman year of track when I finally broke 5 minutes on the 1600. (4:50)3) Yreka won the state Division IV team title in 2011. Tell us a little about that team and the experience of winning a state championship.
The state winning team was bunch of great hard working guys. We weren't sure if we won after the race. We thought we got 3rd or below but when we found out we won, it was so awesome. All that hard work paid off.

4) What do you feel are the advantages and disadvantages of competing for Yreka HS in terms of training, competition etc.?
The advantages for competing for Yreka High is that we have two great coaches Pam Borg and Brady Silvic that want us to do well and work with us to get our goal times. We live up in the mountains so we get great hill workouts and elevation training. The disadvantages is that we don't have the teams from the southern section.

5) What do you feel are the keys to your team's success? What sets you apart from the other teams?
I think the key to our success is that our team is so close with one another. We practice as a pack and race as a pack.

6) Tell us a little about your coach and how she has helped you develop in the runner you are today.
Borg is one of the best coaches I've ever had. She has helped me so much with my running from having good form to having a confidence in myself. She got me to love running and working hard to do well.

7) What does a typical week look like for your team with a Saturday Invitational? Key workouts? Length of long run? Morning runs?
Morning runs on Monday-Thursday. Monday is typically our hard workout day. For this week for Stanford we did 28 negative split 200s (First set was 40 to 38 then 38 to 35 the 35 to 32 or under.) Tuesday was our easy/recovery run from Mondays workout. Wednesday was our league meet at home. Thursday we did 5 800 at our 5K race pace. Friday easy 40 min run and prepare for Stanford in the morning.

8) Favorite XC meet? Favorite XC course? Favorite opponent(s)? Favorite Yreka XC tradition? Favorite XC workout? Longest drive to a meet in hours? Favorite TF Invite? Favorite TF event? Favorite track workout?
Favorite XC meet would be North West.
Favorite course would be Stanford.
Favorite opponent would be the person I'm trying to chase down and the person trying to chase me down pushing me to go faster.
Favorite Yreka XC tradition is we run "Pine Apples" in the morning before a race.
Favorite XC workout are tempo runs on our home course.
Longest drive that we had was the drive down to the state meet was from 5AM to 3PM
Favorite TF invite would be the Grants Pass Invite.
Favourite TF event would be the 1600 and 800.
Favourite TF workout would be 400s and 800s repeats

9) What was the plan going into the Stanford Invitational for you and your team? How did the race unfold for you?
Race smart and aggressively. Get up with the front pack. Stay with each other as long as possible. He race for me was a good look on how the state meet is going to be run.

10) How well do you follow the progression of the other Division IV teams in the state?
I check stats about every week with athletic.net and PrepCalTrack.

11) What is the next big invitational for your team? What other races are you most looking forward to the rest of the season?
Castro Valley and the State of Jefferson. I'm looking forward to the North Section race and the State Meet.